STATCOUNTER

May 2016

Went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. The hygienist called me in about fifteen minutes after my appointed time. Not terribly late, but I did mention it when I walked into her torture chamber. And guess which of the following was her response:

Give me a break

I usually wait for two hours to see my internist

I have to wait hours when I see my dermatologist

I apologize. I am running a little late, but I won’t rush your cleaning.

The correct answer is that she said all of the above—except for the apology. Again, I realize that a quarter hour delay is no big deal. But blowing me off about it is. When I thought about it later, and tried to figure out why it bothered me, I realized it was because I felt as if I was being taken for granted. I think that a new patient would only have received one response…the apology. And none of the excuses. But because I have been going to the same dentist for quite a while, the hygienist sensed, correctly, that I would cut her some slack. She was counting on our long relationship, along with inertia.

Inertia meaning I automatically go there, never think about switching dentists, it’s simply easier to continue. But the larger point is that you shouldn’t reserve courtesy for your newest, most tentative clients, assuming that existing clients, because they always have, always will remain with you. It is like restaurants that offer discounts to first-time customers as inducements, while they ignore their, pun intended, bread and butter clientele.

To continue the restaurant metaphor, bad customer service has killed more relationships than bad food. Don’t rely on habit, inertia or simple routine to keep your customers coming. Rely on treating them extremely well.

We are never really certain what the next big thing will be. Virtual reality seems like a new huge deal, as do driverless cars and the promised completion of the second avenue subway in Manhattan.

But we thought the same thing of other products that now litter the thoroughfare of ideas that never made it, such as Google Glasses. Till all the votes are in, we simply never know what ideas will make it, and which ideas will live a lonely unappreciated life. Who would have thought that the new big thing, well, small/big, would be adult coloring books. “Adult,” in this context, is not what it might sound like. It has nothing to do with the collection of web sites on your laptop that you pray someone erases before your kids discover them when you die.

Go to your old favorite, Amazon, and search adult coloring books. (Or click here.) You will be astonished by how many different ones there are.

Did you see that coming? Nope. But that is really good news for you. And a great reason not to listen to the naysayers. Because if people scoff when you tell them about your idea, just remind them that they are the same good people who “laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round.” And part of the same well meaning group who swore that an app encouraging people to slow down—and actually using a sloth as its symbol—would never succeed.

We all talk about tag lines and slogans. But at a networking event last week, someone (inadvertently) called his tag line a punch line. Everyone laughed (we are very grownup about mistakes), but then I thought about it. And the more I thought about it, the more I liked that phrase.

A “Tag line” is really a dull way to talk about what is meant to be an arresting, intrusive, clever combination of words that sums up your business in a few well-crafted words. It is the foundation for your communications, and your marketing efforts lean heavily on it for creative support.

One definition of a punch line is: “The final phrase or sentence of a joke or story, providing the humor or some other crucial element.” This does not mean, for our purposes, that you have to use a joke or humor to make your point, though humor often works well. It does mean that it is the conclusion of what your story has been leading up to. It is the summary, the ear-sticking phrase that is the payoff for your efforts.

So rethink your tag line. Think about how you can make it more captivating, more distinctive. Basically, think about how you can punch it up, and transform it into a punch line.

The sad fact is that, no matter how interesting your ad campaign is now, how clever it seems, how unusual it is, if you keep running the same thing, your audience will stop paying attention.

I know how hard that is to believe. After all, you worked so hard to develop the idea. Your creative director loved it. The client approved it with no changes. And the finished product looked as good as you had hoped. But eventually it will turn into steak. As in, “I really love a rare rib-eye steak, but if I had to eat one every night for a month, I would quickly get tired of it.”

Actually, no matter what your favorite food is, a steady diet of it will soon have you hoping for a taste of something — anything — else. Which is why you must tweak your idea, keeping it fresh and interesting.

I’m sure that I don’t have to caution you to make certain that whatever changes you invent don’t make the basic idea unrecognizable. You just want to refresh the idea, not hide it. Snickers is doing a great job of this. They keep the basic thought (You’re not yourself when you’re hungry), and have crafted a long lasting campaign out of it.

You, unfortunately, don’t have an advertising budget similar to Snickers. But, fortunately, that needn’t deter you! Because Snickers is as clever with its marketing as it is with its creativity, they didn’t only rely on the power of a large budget. To quote from this article, ‘Few things seem more personal than a blog; and few messages are as impactful as those in video. That's why marketers for Snickers decided to tap into the increasingly powerful vlogging community.’ “Bloggers—and vloggers—are strong influencers with dedicated fans and followings, which can make them powerful voices for brands,” says Allison Miazga-Bedrick, senior brand director, general manager for Mars Chocolate North America. So Snickers decided to use the compelling aspect of video and the engaging features of blogging to connect with hungry, young consumers.’

Take advantage of the opportunities that social media provides to refresh your ideas without breaking your bank. As this final quote points out, “It's no longer about simply creating a message to send to the masses; it's about meeting that audience on their turfs, including their likes, and using their favorite platforms—like YouTube.”